


Hearth

by ponchothor



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Autistic Bruce Banner, Comic Clint Barton, Cuddling & Snuggling, Deaf Clint Barton, Declarations Of Love, Kind of a character study, M/M, Touchy-Feely, touch averse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 21:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15567021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ponchothor/pseuds/ponchothor
Summary: Bruce has always hated touch.





	Hearth

**Author's Note:**

> For ThorBruce Week Day 4- Touch.
> 
> This is kind of a character study on Bruce Banner and touch. I headcanon Bruce as autistic and delve into that some here, pulling a fair amount from my own experience as an autistic person. the experiences isn't universal, but I see a lot of my traits in Bruce and vice-versa.

Bruce had always hated touch. As long as he could remember, he despised it. The only person he had ever actually enjoyed physical contact with was his mother- a touch on the shoulder, a kiss on the forehead goodnight, a long hug to comfort him when she kept him away from one of his dad’s outbursts- and ever since that fateful day when he was 8, he’d had little more than a handshake from anyone. Handshakes, he could tolerate. They were brief and formal and the opposite of intimate. The only exception to ever come along was Betty. Betty who was his first kiss, his best friend, and technically, his ex. They’d dated before either of them accepted that they were gay, and helped each other accept that part of themselves. She was the only person he’d let hug him, and he actually enjoyed laying sprawled out with her on the couch for movie nights. 

Bruce knew precisely why he hated touch. He was autistic, and for his particular autism traits, touch repulsion came with the area. He’d learned over the years that only people he felt expressly comfortable with- people he trusted completely and had grown to truly love in some way- could touch him without triggering this. He learned that he loved touch, craved it even, and that around those he loved, he became extremely tactile. Through all his years of touch avoidance, he somehow managed to become both touch averse and touch starved.

He had layers of comfort. Tony was his best friend in the tower, but Tony wasn’t a touchy person. Though he trusted Tony implicitly, they stuck with fist bumps, the occasional shoulder pat, and a rare hug here or there. Betty was much more touchy. They’d cuddle together on the couch during movies and hugged at every greeting and goodbye, sometimes a few inbetween. But Betty had her own work, and he had his, and he didn’t see her nearly as much as he used to.

He was okay with casual touches from most of the avengers. A pat of the shoulder from Steve, the brush of Natasha’s arm as she walked by, even the occasional hug from Rhodey. Rhodey gave the best hugs. He’d greet Pepper with a short hug, too. He knew her and trusted her nearly as much as he did Tony. Clint wasn’t big on touch either, so they settled for head nods as they passed one another. When the moment called for it, Clint would do the sign for hug at him and Bruce would do it back, smiling with his arms crossed over and held tight against his chest, fists clenched.

But Thor… Thor was a whole different ballgame. Thor was touchy, and though he held off at first, Bruce told him he didn’t mind at all. So from Thor he got bear hugs, nights on the couch nestled into Thor’s side, a hand on his upper arm when they talked that Bruce would promptly return. He really didn’t mind all the touch. He loved it, actually, but it felt so...so different from his touches with anyone else. All Thor had to do want lay a hand gently on his arm and his stomach became butterflies and he felt electric, but in the best way. A hug gave him a feeling of warmth that was more like a roaring hearth than the small campfires he felt when he hugged Betty or Pepper or Rhodey. He had more physical contact with Thor than the rest of his friends combined, yet he craved more. And it terrified him, yet excited him.

And then he woke up in a busted quinjet on Sakaar.

He was scared at first but then a hand was on his arm and he looked up to see Thor, now with a shorter haircut. If it weren’t for Thor, he probably would have absolutely flipped shit when he found out that a) he had been Hulk for over 2 years and b) he was on a completely alien planet. But Thor’s arms were around him bringing him back down to earth (well, not literally. They were still on a different planet.) and for the first time in a while, since before Ultron, Bruce felt like everything was going to be okay. The roaring hearth of Thor’s hug moved through him, bringing him back to himself and igniting what had been dormant for two years. And that’s when Bruce realized he’d been in love with Thor the whole time. 

Everything after that was chaos, yet Bruce was able to keep himself together. A brush across his face and right under his lip from Thor to keep him calm, as if smoothing away the green veins that crept up. A pat on the shoulder gave him the confidence to fly a spaceship. A hug before they dropped Thor off at Asgard’s palace did just enough to cancel out how worried he was for Thor, just enough to keep him functional. And then he jumped out of a ship and felt the smack a bridge and saw nothing but rainbow, and then he was at the back for a while. Hulk was out to help save Thor’s people, and though he was worried about not being able to before, Bruce now knew he’d be able to come back. 

Hulk promised he’d get Bruce back to Thor after he helped “blondie and angry girl and asgardians.” And for the first time in a while, Bruce really believed him. They had become Hulk’s friends too, after all. His last thought was that he understood why he was already so comfortable with Valkyrie, why he didn’t flinch away when she steadied herself on his arm while walking to the back of the ship. Hulk had befriended her over his 2 years on Sakaar and trusted her as much as he trusted Thor, so Bruce felt like he knew and could trust her too. He and Hulk were more linked than he originally thought, and actually, it was a comfort.

When Bruce came back to full consciousness again he was in a bed on what he assumed was another ship. He vaguely remembered Hulk picking up Thor and Valkyrie and jumping towards one, and Loki showing up at some point. But it didn’t feel like he had just phased down from Hulk right now, it felt more like he just woke up. He looked to his right to see Thor in a chair pulled up next to the bed now with an eyepatch where his right eye was. He sat up and put his hand on Thor’s knee. 

“Did we- did we win?” Bruce asked.

“Sort of. Most of the Asgardian people were saved, but in order to destroy Hela we had to let Surtur destroy Asgard. The planet is gone, but Asgard is it’s people.” Thor put his hand over Bruce’s. 

“And Hulk?”

“He fought valiantly. He stuck around for a few hours afterwards but came here to take a nap. He said you would be back after. You de-hulked about an hour ago but I wanted to let you sleep.”

“So that’s why it felt different.”

“Bruce, I want to thank you. Hulk helped turn the tide because you were brave enough to recognize he was needed and bring him out, even though you weren’t sure if you would be able to come back. You risked yourself for me. For my people. And I can’t tell you how much that means.” Thor brought his other hand up to the side of Bruce’s face, and the hearth in Bruce’s heart started up all over again. 

“I had to. For you. For all of them. But Thor, at that point I knew I would come back. Hulk wanted to help, I wanted to help, and I think we understand each other better now. We’re more linked than I thought and you and Valkyrie- he’d do anything for the two of you. Just like how I’d do anything for you. And I think Val and I are on the way to becoming good friends as well. I would have risked it anyway, to know it helped you even if I wouldn’t be able to see you again, but he wouldn’t let that happen. He cares for you too much and thought it would hurt you, Thor. I’m not sure why, but he did.”

“Bruce, there’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve been putting off for too long because I’m a coward. But today my first thought was of how afraid I was of losing you. So I need to say it. And it sounds like Hulk already knew anyway. Bruce, I’m in love with you. And I have been, for a long time now. I thought you were gone. I hoped I’d find you again one day, but I was so afraid you were really gone. But you’re not. You’re here, and you’re brave and selfless and brilliant and kind and every time I look at you I can’t help but smile. And I know you may not feel the same, and nothing needs to change, but I needed to say it while I love you, Bruce Banner.”

“Thor I-” Bruce didn’t know what to say, so he did the only thing he could think of. He leaned forward, fist in the strap of Thor’s armor, and pressed their lips together. They stayed that way for awhile before leaned in closer, deepening the kiss.

After that, their already frequent touches became more frequent. It turns out, Bruce is very touchy in relationships. There’s barely a moment that one of them don’t have at least a hand on the other’s arm, and kisses are frequent. In the mornings, Thor will come up behind Bruce and wrap his arms around him, a jumpstart to the hearth that burns in Bruce’s heart all day with Thor.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on twitter @softhulk


End file.
